Best Time To Buy Fish From The Fish Shop - Feel Free To Disagree

[Stu4648]

Found this out purely by accident although in some ways I suppose it was kind of obvious but the best time of day to buy fish from the fish shop, in my opinion anyway, is just after the fish have been fed. In my LFS, as in the case of many I suspect, this means going first thing in the morning bang on opening time.
 
This is particularly true if you are after a pleco, the reason being because they are out chomping on a wafer you actually get a proper look at them rather than just seeing whatever part they cannot hide from view when they are fully suckered onto the back of the filter as is normally the case. 
 
Make sure you check out the display tanks too, you will probably see fish you never even realised where in there even though you may be a frequent visitor. That is how I landed my big male bristlenose plec, any other time I had been in he was busy hiding in his plane wreck completely out of sight.
 
Also useful if you want to buy a cichlid and you want to see how aggressive towards others they are when they have something worth fighting over. In fairness, if you ever look in a cichlid tank the dominant fish is usually pretty easy to spot but the addition of food will certainly put it beyond doubt.
 
I am sure plenty of other people on here have plenty of other top tips regarding buying fish, feel free to add below.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Yep, that some about right!

 

[Byron]

Interesting that I have never really considered this, but it has given me pause to think now you mention it.  While I agree on the reasons set out, seeing fish behaviours, etc, there is perhaps a very good reason not to move fish immediately after feeding.
 
Fish being chased around the store tank, netted, put in a bag of what will very soon be fairly polluted water, introduced to a completely new environment with perhaps other fish...all this is highly stressful to the fish.  Think about us exercising after a meal...something we are told not to do.  Same applies to the fish.
 
This is why water changes at home should not be after the fish are fed but before, preferably relatively early in the fish's day, so they can settle and relax before dark.  Of course water changes are no where near as stressful as moving the fish from the store, but it is best if any major work inside the tank not occur soon after feeding.  You can miss feeding the water change day, or feed a couple hours following.  I use this opportunity to feed the "treats" of frozen daphnia and bloodworms, and the fish now expect this.
 
Byron.

 

[star4]

Last time I bought fish I asked to see them feeding, its a good indicator to health, you dont want to buy a fish that is not eating. If the shop refuses to feed them then I stand for ages watching the tank to check the faeces is healthy looking (not stringy)

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I go first thing in the morning too.  I want to see how many fish might have died in the same tank before deciding to buy.  I also like to know if they have a quarantine period and so on (if they don't I don't buy ever, Pets At Home told me they put fish for sale straight away, for example).

 

[Cadevan]

I only ever buy fish, with an exception of my guppies, from a fish specialty store that will feed a tank if you ask them too and has a definite quarantine time before fish go up for sale. I'd never buy at a store that didnt have some option for me to see how the fish act. 

I like less brightly coloured, hardier guppies and can find them more easily at chain stores or even walmart than the overly "fancy" guppies the store keeps. I just quarantine them before they touch my other tanks.